Which trees have yellow leaves in fall? Sort them by leaf shape

Fan-shaped leaves: ginkgo

No other tree has a fan-shaped leaf with veins that fork again and again from the stalk. The NC State profile describes leaves 2 to 3 inches long, often in clusters of three to five on short shoots, with yellow fall color; the Morton Arboretum calls it outstanding. Ginkgo is native to China and widely planted in the US. Female trees drop plum-like seeds whose pulp smells foul when ripe, which is why NC State notes that most ornamental ginkgoes in the US are male. Ginkgo is in Tree Identifier's Collection.

Round or triangular leaves on flat stalks: aspen and cottonwood

Roll the leaf stalk between finger and thumb. A stalk flattened like a ribbon means a poplar, and the leaves flutter in the slightest wind.

Quaking aspen has nearly round leaves about 3 inches long with fine teeth, turning golden yellow in fall, according to NC State, on smooth, silvery white-green bark that turns chalky white with black patches. Because aspen spreads by root suckers, a whole grove is often one clone and turns at the same time; the poplar page explains why neighboring groves can change color on different dates.

Eastern cottonwood has larger, triangular leaves 3 to 6 inches long with two small glands where the stalk meets the blade. NC State gives its fall color as yellow but notes that leaves may drop early. Look along streams and riverbanks.

Pale bark and toothed leaves: birches and beech

Birches turn yellow too. The Morton Arboretum describes paper birch leaves changing to yellow in fall, and NC State notes that river birch's modest yellow color drops early and quickly. The bark settles the species: chalky white and peeling on paper birch, salmon to cinnamon and shaggy on river birch. The birch page covers the wintergreen twig test for yellow and black birch.

American beech turns a golden bronze, according to The Morton Arboretum, and its dried leaves often hang on well into winter. The smooth, silver-gray bark and leaves with straight, parallel veins that end in small teeth make it easy to confirm. See the beech page.

American elm turns what NC State calls an undistinguished yellow. Its leaves are 4 to 6 inches long, rough, toothed, with a lopsided base where one side meets the stalk lower than the other.

Lobed leaves: tulip tree and the yellow maples

Tulip tree (tulip poplar or yellow-poplar) has a leaf no other tree shares: four lobes and a flat or notched top, like a tulip seen from the side. The NC State profile describes bright green leaves 3 to 8 inches across that turn golden yellow in fall. It is one of the tallest eastern hardwoods, 80 to 120 feet, with gray bark in a diamond pattern of flat ridges. Despite the name it is a magnolia relative, not a poplar.

Maples that turn yellow all have leaves in opposite pairs:

• Norway maple turns yellow-green to yellow, the Morton Arboretum notes, and NC State calls its fall color an unremarkable yellow. Snap a leaf stalk: it oozes milky sap. The Morton Arboretum lists it as invasive, and the Connecticut Invasive Plant List (October 2025) includes it, with a prohibition date of October 2030.
• Silver maple has five deep lobes and silvery undersides, and NC State describes a combination of yellow, brown and green in fall.
• Bigleaf maple is the West Coast maple, with leaves up to 12 inches across. Oregon State University gives its fall foliage as yellow to gold or brown.
• Sugar maple turns yellow to orange, sometimes red, and is compared with red maple on the red maple vs sugar maple page.

Compound leaves: honey locust, hickories and walnut

Honey locust answers the search for a tree with small yellow leaves in fall. The NC State profile describes feathery compound leaves 5 to 8 inches long with 15 to 30 oval leaflets, each only 1 to 1 1/2 inches; Iowa State lists the fall color as yellow. Wild trees carry stout thorns up to 3 inches long, with one or three branches; NC State also lists a thornless variety, inermis, so a planted tree may have no thorns at all. Twisted, reddish-brown pods 12 to 18 inches long often hang on into winter. The locust page compares honey locust with black locust.

Shagbark hickory has compound leaves 8 to 14 inches long with 5 to 7 leaflets, turning yellow to golden brown, according to NC State. Old trees are easy to name by their bark, which separates into long plates that curve away from the trunk. See the hickory page for the other hickories.

Black walnut carries the longest leaves on this list, 12 to 24 inches with 15 to 23 leaflets. NC State notes that the leaves come out late and drop early, with a fall color of bright clear yellow; the walnut page covers the green husks.

Heart-shaped leaves and needles: redbud and tamarack

Eastern redbud has heart-shaped leaves 3 to 5 inches wide with smooth edges and an attractive yellow fall color, NC State notes. Flat brown seed pods 2 to 4 inches long often stay on the tree into winter. The redbud page covers its pink spring flowers.

Tamarack is the conifer that turns gold. Its soft needles grow in tufts on short spur shoots; in autumn they turn yellow and fall, and the tree stands bare until spring. Iowa State lists larch fall color as yellow. A conifer that is gold in October and bare in December is a larch, not a dying pine: the tamarack page explains how to tell it from European and western larch.

Yellow fall trees by region

• Northeast and Great Lakes: sugar maple, birches, American beech, quaking and bigtooth aspen, tamarack in bogs, and Norway maple on streets.
• Southeast: tulip tree, hickories, river birch, redbud and black walnut; planted ginkgo.
• Midwest: honey locust, cottonwood along rivers, shagbark hickory, black walnut, silver maple and American elm.
• Texas and the Southwest: cottonwood along streams and quaking aspen high in the mountains; NC State gives cottonwood's native range as reaching Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
• West Coast and the Rockies: bigleaf maple on the Pacific Coast and quaking aspen groves in the Rockies.

Yellow autumn leaves in the UK

Many of Britain's native trees turn yellow in autumn. The Woodland Trust says silver birch's small, triangular, toothed leaves fade to yellow; field maple leaves fade to a rich, golden yellow; hazel leaves turn yellow before falling; and aspen (Populus tremula, the European species) turns a vibrant yellow or occasionally red. Planted ginkgo and tulip tree add more gold in parks.

Using a photo to name a yellow tree

Yellow leaves fall fast, and a pile under one tree often mixes several species. Photograph a leaf still on the branch, with enough twig to show whether leaves are paired or alternate, or a whole compound leaf for locust, hickory and walnut. Tree Identifier names a tree from one photo, and ginkgo, tulip tree, honey locust, paper birch and silver birch are among the species in its Collection. It gives one name without a confidence score, so check the leaf against the table above. The follow-up chat can answer questions such as how honey locust differs from black locust.